Can I transfer between IOE campuses after enrolling?
Generally no, and a Regular seat is never transferred to another Regular seat. One narrow route exists into a full-fee programme at another campus, at the start of second or third year, and it requires a vacant seat there, higher marks than the other applicants, and the whole remaining fee in one lump sum.
Students at IOE constituent campuses are generally not transferred from one campus to another, and a Regular seat is never transferred to another Regular seat. One narrow route exists and it is not really a transfer. A student holding a Regular seat who wants to move into the full-fee programme at another campus may do so at the start of second year first part or third year first part, and only if that campus has a vacant seat. Where more students want to move than there are places, selection is made on the higher marks obtained in examination. You have to inform the campus administration fifteen days before the classes of the semester you want to join begin, and the entire fee for the whole remaining period is payable in one lump sum. So the route asks for a vacant seat, better marks than the other applicants, and a large single payment.
The one exception, in the booklet’s own terms
- Who may move
- A student on a Regular seat, moving into a full-fee programme at another campus
- When
- The start of second year first part, or third year first part. No other point in the degree
- Only if
- That campus has a vacant seat in the programme
- If several apply
- Selection is on the higher marks obtained in examination
- Notice required
- The campus administration must be informed 15 days before that semester’s classes begin
- What it costs
- The full fee for the entire remaining period, paid in one lump sum
Why this is not really a transfer
You are giving up a subsidised seat to buy a full-fee one somewhere else, and paying for every remaining semester at once rather than by instalment. The gap between the two rates at a constituent campus is close to nine times over four years, so for most students the arithmetic does not work even where the seat exists.
What if you left study midway and want to come back?
That is a different clause and it is more forgiving. A student who was admitted at any level in an IOE campus and left or discontinued may contact that campus and resume the year or part they missed, as the rules provide, but only where a seat determined for that programme is vacant. The process has to be completed fifteen days before classes are conducted, and you may not restart from the first session by taking a fresh admission instead. An admission made that way is cancelled.
What happens to the deposit you leave behind
It is forfeited, and this is the part of the arithmetic most people leave out. The booklet treats the campus deposit in two ways depending on how you go. A student who has completed the syllabus and then leaves the campus gets the deposit amounts back, but only within one year of leaving; ask for them later than that and there is no clause to ask under. A student who leaves study midway has the deposit amounts confiscated outright. Moving to another campus at the start of second or third year is leaving midway, so the transfer costs you the whole remaining fee at the new campus in one payment and the deposit at the old one on top of it.
The roll number does not move either
Once your Unique IOE Roll Number has been issued, the programme recorded against it is fixed at the campus that admitted you, and the only movement the procedure leaves open inside that campus is from the Full Fee category to the Regular category. So the transfer route above is not a way of changing subject as well as address. Whatever you are enrolled in is what you would be carrying across.
What this means when you are choosing a campus
Anyone advising you to take any seat now and transfer later is describing a route that needs a vacant seat, better marks than the other applicants, and a lump sum. Choose as though the decision is permanent, because in practice it is.
Section 16.1 of the BE/B.Arch Booklet 2083, page 25, for the transfer route; section 8.5, page 19, for resuming after leaving midway; section 8.4, page 18, for the one-year deposit rule and the forfeit on leaving midway. The roll-number restriction is item 12 of the IOE Admission Guidelines 2083, page 4. The booklet carries a standing note that its provisions may be changed by the authority, so confirm with your campus before acting.
Sources
- IOE B.E./B.Arch Booklet 2083published 7 August 2026 · read 18 August 2026
- IOE Admission Guidelines 2083 (Centralized Admission Monitoring Committee)published 12 August 2026 · read 18 August 2026
Last reviewed by Ram Raj Thapa, Admissions Officer, Imperial College of Engineering. Every figure on this page is cited to the document it came from.
